Phl inclusion in EU GSP seen by yearend

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is confident that the Philippines would be included before the end of the year in a trade scheme that would allow more goods to enter the European Union (EU) at zero duty.

Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said that as of last week, the EU Council has not expressed objections on the country’s inclusion to the list of beneficiary countries of the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+).

The EU Council said that unless the EU Parliament objects, the Philippines’ inclusion into the EU GSP+ may be enforced.

The EU council is the institution used by ministers from each EU state to adopt laws and coordinate policies. The EU Parliament, on the other hand, is the directly-elected parliamentary institution of the union.

These bodies work with the EU Commission which is responsible for proposing legislation and implementing decisions by the union.

The Philippines officially completed its application process to the GSP+ arrangement in February. The European Commission, in September, favorably endorsed the Philippines’ application for inclusion in the scheme to the EU Parliament and EU Council.

“With this development, our application is now headed to the European Parliament for deliberation. We are optimistic that we will get approval from the EU Parliament before the year ends.” said Cristobal.

Cristobal therefore urged stakeholders to support the Philippines’ strategy in ensuring preparedness of the country to maximize benefits of the EU GSP+.

“We have been conducting a series of briefings with stakeholders to provide them information on our application to the GSP+ scheme as well as assistance on non-tariff measures and rules of origin (ROO) issues to capitalize on the full benefits of GSP+. We need to expand our country’s market access and increase investments to further strengthen the emerging sectors of our industry and generate more job opportunities to benefit especially the rural communities,” he said.

The Philippines is currently a beneficiary of the EU GSP where 2,442 products from the Philippines are exported to EU states at zero duty, while 3,767 are subject to reduced tariffs.

With the inclusion of the Philippines in the EU GSP+ scheme, exporters would enjoy zero duty for 6,274 covered products.

The product sectors most likely to benefit from GSP+ are animal or vegetable fats and oils, prepared foodstuffs, textiles and garments, footwear, headwear, umbrellas, and chemical products.

Once cleared by the EU Parliament, the Philippines would be the only GSP+ beneficiary in the ASEAN. –Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star)